Trump announces Tikok buyer: These interested parties are in the race

Trump announces Tikok buyer: These interested parties are in the race

After months of speculation and several commandments of potential American buyers, Tiktok could finally find a new owner. At the weekend, President Donald Trump indicated that there is a buyer for Tiktok, whom he will announce in two weeks. This could secure the future of the app in the United States in the long term.

The purchase negotiations and their challenges

"By the way, we have a buyer for Tikkok. I think I will probably need China's approval, and I think President Xi will probably do so," said President Donald Trump on the program "Sunday Morning Futures" on Fox News. He added: "It is a group of very wealthy people." Tikok's parent company, Bytedance, has time until September 17th to separate US operations on the popular short video app to avoid a ban in the United States. Trump has repeatedly delayed the enforcement of the TIKTOK sales or ban law signed by its predecessor Joe Biden to enable a deal for an American buyer who could acquire the app.

The meaning of Tikkok for Americans

The app is used by around 170 million Americans to find their livelihoods in some cases. However, it remains unclear whether the Chinese government would approve the sale of Tiktok by the China-based owner.

negotiations cut off by tariffs

In April, a deal that had transferred the majority of control over Tikok's US operations to American owners was almost completed. However, after Trump had announced additional tariffs in China, the deal failed, which forced the White House to announce a further delay of 75 days in order to keep the app operational in the United States. Trump extended the deadline for another 90 days at the beginning of this month.

"The talks with China about the sale of Tikkok are on the go at the highest level and will continue," said the press spokeswoman for the White House, Karoline Leavitt, in a briefing on Monday. "As you know, we have another 90-day extension to continue working on this deal and ensure that Tikkok remains for the American people-this is the main goal of the president in this matter, while the privacy and security of the users are protected."

who could buy Tiktok?

Here is what we know about the possible buyers of Tikkok. The most likely group of buyers may be a group of investors who was willing in April to acquire Tiktok. During this deal, various venture capital companies, private participation funds and technology gends should invest in a company that would control TIKTOK's US operations, while bytedance would keep 20 % on the separated company.

Legal requirements for the sale

In order to meet the legal requirements, Bytedance must not have more than 20 % of the platform. The law also states that the US operations of the app must not be coordinated with bytedance in relation to the algorithm of the app or the practices on the data division. At the time of Trump's extension in April, the White House did not name the parties with which it had talked about a Tikok takeover deal. According to an informed source, however, new and existing US tistok investors, bytedance and the Trump administration agreed to the deal.

other potential buyers

There are several other prominent bidders who have also expressed interest in taking over the US operations. This includes a group, which is led by the former owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers and founder of Project Liberty, Frank McCourt, and the "Shark Tank" star Kevin O’Leary, supported by Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian. This group, which calls itself "The People’s Bid for Tiktok", has explained that it would like to update the app of the app to enable users and creatorn more control over your data and your experience on the platform.

"Every day that goes without a qualified sale of Tikok, Americans exposes a greater risk of manipulation and surveillance," said a spokesman for Project Liberty on Monday in a statement. "The People’s Bid remains the only submitted solution that fully fulfills the law and transfers Tikok to a US technology platform. We look forward to working on this goal with members of the government, politicians and our many outstanding partners at The People’s Bid."

Another potential group of buyers includes the social media influencer Jimmy Donaldson, better known as MRBeast, and the founder of Employer.com, Jesse Tinsley. A representative of the group rejected a statement on the stand of the offer on Monday. The artificial intelligence company Perplexity announced in March that it would like to buy TikTok. In a statement at the time, it was said that the company was "uniquely positioned to rebuild the Tikok algorithm without creating a monopoly and combining world-class technical skills with independence in the small tech world." Perplexity did not react to an inquiry for comment on Monday.